Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to teat cup assemblies having a teat cup having a rigid, outer shell and tubular liner and more particularly to a teat cup shell and replaceable liner for a teat cup shell wherein the axial length of the shell and liner are configured to be assembled into a teat cup assembly wherein the liner has a teat chamber having an opening extending axially therethrough and terminates in a distal end having an axial length which is greater in length than a length of a teat terminating in a distal tip to be inserted into the teat chamber positioning a distal tip of a teat in the axially extending opening in a spaced relationship from the distal end of the teat chamber to eliminate application of differential collapsing pressure during a milking operates to the teat by using the teaching of the invention, a substantially uniform milking pressure is applied to the teat including the distal end thereof to obtained improved milking of a cow while reducing trauma on the teats during milking operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art for milking machines to utilize teat cup assemblies which are attached to a cow""s teat for purposes of milking the cow. Typically, teat cup assemblies include a hollow rigid outer shell and a resilient, tubular shaped liner sometimes referred to as inflation. The hollow, rigid outer shell of a teat cup assembly includes a vacuum inlet which is operatively connected to a pulsating vacuum line to selectively apply a milking vacuum and atmosphere pressure to the interior of the shell as is well known in the art. Typically, a tubular shaped liner is loaded into the shell in a manner to form a seal at both the mouthpiece opening of the rigid outer shell and a central aperture located at the opposite end of the shell. The tubular liner has a portion thereof, including a milk tube, which extends through and beyond the central aperture of the shell.
During a milking operation, a teat cup assembly is attached to the cow and the cow teats are inserted through an opening of the mouthpiece of the liner and into the teat chamber of the tubular liner.
A pulsating vacuum line is operatively connected to the inlet on the shell to alternatively apply a vacuum an atmosphere to the teat cup assemblies for milking the cow all is known to persons skilled in the art.
Typically, the tubular liner needs to be replaced in the order of every seven (7) to ten (10) days. This is due to the fact that the opening in the mouthpiece does not maintain an adequate seal around the peripheral of the cow""s teat and the efficiency of the milking operations is degraded to the degradation of the sealing relationship between the mouthpiece opening and the cows teat. The opening and the closing of the liner during the milking operation applies torsional forces to the mouthpiece of the liner resulting in the degradation of the sealing relationship, over time, with the cow""s teat.
It is also known in the art that dairy cows today produce milk at substantially higher milk flows. To compensate the substantially higher milk flows, the inside diameter of the milk flow tube is increased to diameter in order to accommodate the increase in milk flow. As the result of the increase in milk flow, the milking vacuum applied to the milk tube is interrupted causing milk back flow to the teat which is undesirable as milk back blow causes trauma and disease to the cow""s teat.
Numerous attempts have been made to improve the design of the tubular liner to accommodate the increased milk flow and to prevent application of undue stress onto the cow""s teat during milking. Specially constructed liners which have been designed to permit substantial relative bending of portions of the milking tube are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,756,275 and 4,745,881.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,947 discloses, particularly at FIG. 4, thereof, the formation of a pair of spaced grooves located in the liner just beyond the central aperture of a shell to permit a teat cup assembly of a milking machine to be folded towards the stem portion to a folded over position thereby crimping the milking tube when it is not possible to install a teat cup on one of the cow""s teats in the event that a cow has a missing, mal-formed diseased or damaged teat which cannot be milked or where a teat milks faster than other teats and it is necessary to disable operation of one of the teat cup assemblies on a milking machine.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,308,656; 6,176,200; 6,164,243; 6,058,879; 6,039,001; 5,979,358; 5,857,424; 5,666,904; 5,572,947; 5,482,004 and 4,964,368 disclose various teat cup assemblies, teat cup liners and milk machines using teat cup assemblies, all of which utilize a teat liner having various features for positioning a milking machine teat cup on to a cow""s teat and for improving a milking of a cow during a milking operation utilizing a milking machine.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D447,840 discloses a teat cup liner wherein the milking tube discharge has an outer surface which is formed into an annular ring having a plurality of space axially extending grooves.
All of the prior art liners including the liners disclosed and taught by the above described prior art are structured such that the distal tip of a cow""s teat is inserted through an opening in the mouthpiece of the liner and is advanced into the teat chamber to the position the distal tip in a location where the teat chamber has a relatively thick sidewall where the teat chamber makes a transition into the inlet of a milk tube.
In the prior art liners, the thicker portion of the teat chamber having a sidewall when subjected to atmosphere during a milking process causing the teat liner to collapse and apply a milking force to the cow""s teat results in the thin walled teat chamber applying a greater force to the cow""s teat and a smaller force on the distal tip, due to the resistance of the thicker sidewall portion which results in the application of a differential milking force being applied to the distal tip of the cow""s teat which causes trauma thereto during the milking operation.
The application of a differential milking force to the cow""s teat including the distal tip is undesirable and causes trauma and disease which can be reduced or possibly eliminated using the teachings of the present invention.
The present invention seeks to overcome the problems of the prior art by providing a replaceable liner for use with a teat cup shell in a milking system wherein the teat chamber achieves an improved and more complete teat distal tip massage during milking.
This is accomplished by using a liner which is specifically structured for use with a teat cup having a rigid hollow shell with a central aperture formed at one end thereof and wherein the axial length of the teat cup hollow shell has a greater length then the length of the teat cup shells known in the art.
In the present invention, the liner includes a teat chamber having an opening extending axially therethrough. The teat chamber terminates at a distal end and has an axial length which is greater in length than a length of a teat terminating in a distal tip to be inserted into the teat chamber. As a result of the greater length, the distal tip of a teat in the axially extending opening of the teat chamber is positioned in a space relationship from the distal end of the teat chamber.
A transition chamber, having an axially extending reducing inner passageway, has an inlet contiguous to and communicating with the opening in the distal end. The inner passageway inlet has a dimension substantially equal to the opening and decreases in dimension to an outlet having an outlet dimension which is less than the inlet dimension. The transition chamber has an exterior surface space from the inner passageway with sufficient thickness to define on the exterior surface a circumferentially extending cup member configured to be passed through a central aperture in the shell and to then surround and urge the cuff member against a shell enabling a transition chamber to be supported within a central aperture.
A milk tube having a generally cylindrical passageway has a selected dimension which extends from a receiving end to a discharge end. The receiving end communicates with the outlet of the transition chamber. The discharge end is configured to be operatively connected to and having a selected dimension substantially equal to the outer diameter of an inlet of a milk claw.
Therefore, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a replaceable liner for use with a teat cup having a rigid hollow shell with a central aperture formed at one end thereof and wherein the teat cup shell has an axial length to accommodate a liner wherein the teat cup chamber terminates in a distal end having an axial length which is greater in length than the length of a cow""s teat terminating in a distal tip to be inserted into the teat chamber.
Another advantage to the present invention is that the flexible liner having a longer teat chamber achieves an improved a more complete massage of the distal tip of a teat.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the selected diameter of the milk tube generally cylindrical passageway due to an increased cross-sectional area results in reduced cyclic fluctuations of the milking vacuum due to the milk flow passage occluding the milk tube passageway.
Another advantage of the present inventions is that the teat cup shell includes a mouthpiece opening support in the form of a circumferential annular collar formed on the mouthpiece opening, which, in the preferred embodiment, is in the form of an outside rolled edge. The circumferential annular collar cooperates with a circumferential extending collar receiving member configured in the mouthpiece of the liner to add structural support to the mouthpiece of the liner to reduce distortion to the sealing relationship between the cow""s teat and the mouthpiece opening.
Another advantage of the invention is that a method for installing a flexible liner into a teat cup shell is also disclosed and taught by this invention.